Conner rubbed his hands down the side of his jeans. His palms were sweating. Today was not the day to show how nervous he was.

"Dude, chill, you're making me more nervous than I already am." Viktor's shoulder bumped into his and it calmed Conner more than anything else.

"Chill yourself, I'm fine." He winked at his brother and stretched out as much as he could on the bus surrounded by so many other people who were trying to look like they weren't freaking out.

"There's no way they'll let us be in the same unit."

Conner shrugged. Vik was probably right. The two of them were identical twins. Once they got their buzz cuts, they'd be hard to tell apart if you didn't know them. He doubted the drill sergeants wanted that headache.

"You'll be fine, don't worry."

"I'm not worried about me." Viktor shoved him good-naturally. "What are you going to do without me?"

Conner smirked. "I'll manage."

Viktor pulled out the paper he'd been reading for the last week. "Pops said we'll go through Recruit Receiving first, whatever the hell means."

Ronin Kincaid had laughed his ass off when the two of them tried to question him about what they could expect. The only thing he'd said was it would be the hardest, but most rewarding experience of their lives if they survived it.

With emphasis on the if.

Conner wasn't worried though. Having grown up under his father's thumb, they'd learned discipline. Conner might be the one considered the most mellowed, laid back jokester out of the six brothers, but that didn't mean he didn't learn a few things too. Their father had been strict on them. It wasn't until they came to the states to live with their uncle they learned what it meant not to live in a military household.

"Your recruiter didn't tell you guys what to expect?"

Conner looked over to see a guy with one ear bud in and one hanging down. He looked nervous, but not scared. His blue eyes were clear and unafraid. From the guy's build, Conner would guess he'd been active in high school sports, football most likely.

"No. I guess he thought our dad would fill us in." Viktor leaned forward so he could see who he was talking to. "I'm Viktor and this is my brother, Conner."

"I'm Craig. Your dad in the Core?"

Conner nodded. "Yeah he thought it was funny when we asked what boot camp would be like."

"My mom is a Staff Sergeant. She told me all about it."

"Cool. So what the fuck is Recruit Receiving?" Viktor tried to keep the apprehension out of his voice, but Conner heard it even if no one else did.

"It's pretty much phase one of our training. We'll go through the medical and dental exams again, and they'll give us a physical challenge to make sure we can cut it. It's pretty tough from what she said."

"Phase one? How many phases are there?"

Craig laughed. "You really got no clue do you?"

"Hey man, he's not the only one," someone shouted from a few rows up. "My friend and I are in the same situation. We got thrown into the frying pan without a lick of help."

Conner tilted to the side to see two guys looking over their seats. They both had decent tans so they were either from the south or California, but he doubted they'd be on their way to Paris Island, South Carolina if they were from Cali. The other marine training camp was based there.

"First we'll go to the MCRD, the Marine Core Recruit Depot. They'll give us our gear, put us through medical and dental exams and a physical test. That shaggy hair of yours will be gone before the end of the day."

The guy frowned, running a hand through his shaggy set of curls. "Man, girls love this hair. I grew it out when I joined the band."

His friend laughed. "Dude, girls only hung out with you for Rex."

"Rex?" Viktor asked.

"The lead singer. This asshole settled for the leftovers."

Conner didn't really like the way the guy was talking in reference to women. It sounded like he thought of them as just chattel or something.

"Not cool, dude." Viktor leaned forward. "Women aren't leftovers. They're each unique and beautiful in their own way. You let them hear you talking about them like that and you'll have zero chance in hell of getting one to give you the time of day."

The guy's eyebrows raised and Conner leaned back, crossing his arms. "Got to respect women, at least in front of us."

"Or?"

Stupid little shit. "Or you'll get a taste of the same lessons our papa taught us. That's not something you ever want to be on the receiving end of."

Before the idiot could say anything else, his friend was wise enough to see trouble brewing.

"I'm Josh and this is Lewis. You said there were other phases to the training?"

Craig glanced at Conner and his brother before continuing. "Yeah. Second phase we move up to Eddison Range for close combat and weapons training. We'll be there a couple weeks and then back to the MCRD for the final phase."

"And that's...?" Viktor asked.

"Everything else including the Crucible."

"Fuck, I forgot about that shit." Viktor's face pales a little. "Papa told us it's the hardest part of the training where we put everything we've learned to the test."

"It can't be that hard," Lewis said, dismissing it.

Craig didn't laugh or say anything, he just stared Lewis down until the guy looked away. When he did, Craig nodded. "You'll wash out before the end of training if you can't get your head around the fact this is the hardest thing you've ever done and fall in line with the Core values—honor, courage, and commitment."

The bus rolled to a stop and everyone, including Conner tensed. This was it. There was no going back and he would have no regrets. Viktor's shoulder brushed his and Conner glanced at his brother who was staring straight ahead.

"We got this," he whispered.

Viktor nodded and they stood, ready to start the next chapter of their lives.